Adhesive composition components, such as base polymers, tackifiers, and waxes are customarily provided as separate components for formulation into an adhesive composition. For hot melt adhesive (HMA) application systems, the base polymer is often supplied in the form of solid pellets, which may be melted and combined with the other adhesive components.
In HMA applications, adhesive compositions are sought that provide a desired combination of physical properties, such as reduced set time and improved mechanical strength. Exemplary base polymer compositions for HMA applications and methods for producing such base polymers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,294,681 and 7,524,910. Various polymers described in these patents and/or produced by the methods disclosed in these patents have been sold by ExxonMobil Chemical Company as LINXAR™ polymers. In addition, the process platform described in these patents can sometimes be of limited robustness for developing new products or altering product design to satisfy customer needs.
What is desired, therefore, is a new base polymer for adhesives that have equivalent or better adhesive performance attributes to that of the LINXAR™ polymers and those polymers disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,294,681 and 7,524,910, and can be produced on alternate platforms to provide a more robust process platform.